Author: Lexi Ryan
Series: Mended Hearts #1
Release Date: July 7, 2015
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Dr. Phoenix Reid isn't who she seems...
Everyone knows a phoenix rises from the ashes. What they don't talk about are the people she drags with her into the fire.
I thought one hot night with Max Hallowell was harmless. I never expected it would force me to face my past or bring back the man who swore he'd never let me go. Now Max wants to help me. Wants to save me. But if I let him, he'll be destroyed. I can already smell the flames.
A woman with a secret past. A man determined to protect her. A dangerous passion that could cost them both everything.
Playing with Fire is the first in a new series of standalone novels featuring the New Hope characters Lexi Ryan fans have come to love. While you wait for Nix and Max's story, explore Love Unbound, the collection of books set in Lexi's New Hope world.
Playing with Fire is the first in a new series of standalone novels featuring the New Hope characters Lexi Ryan fans have come to love. While you wait for Nix and Max's story, explore Love Unbound, the collection of books set in Lexi's New Hope world.
*Note: Each series can be read on its own, but for the chronology purists, the reading order is below.
I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for this book!! Max Halloway has the WORST luck with women. I mean the WORST. So when I heard he was getting a story I knew it was going to be a heartbreaker, but I was so freaking excited to know that he was going to get his HEA. And Playing with Fire gave me exactly what I wanted. IT showed Max throwing his heart on the line once more and needing a woman to put him (and his daughter) first. And Phoenix was that woman. And wowzers was their chemistry magnetic.
Phoenix invented the term tortured past. I mean, Lexi Ryan obviously drummed up two people who need LOTS of TLC and threw them together, who knew they'd make the ultimate perfect couple. Although, it's hard to rival Hanna and Nate, Max and Phoenix may be tied with them for my fave New Hope couple. Even after Nix's horrible, and haunting past comes back to deliver another terrifying hand, Max is still stuck to her like glue. He isn't going anywhere. But Nix has been through this hell before, she knows the dangers that exist and she can't afford to cost Max his life. It's a push and pull of exactasy, love, passion, danger, and everything in between. These two are in for a doozie.
I will fully admit, Lexi Ryan has always written with a seedy underbelly to her characters past, but this one actually forced me to read with the light on. It got a little scary! I mean yay her for sucking me in so completely to her story, but it gave me CHILLS! The mystery/danger part aside though, Max and Nix just called to my heart. They so deserved every ounce of happiness they got and I was thrilled to experience it, it was long overdue. I will say one tiny disappointing factor was the lack of Claire, Max's daughter! I definitely wanted to see the new family dynamic and Nix and Claire interact with one another. It could have called for some VERY cute moments, but given the turn the story took, it was also heartwarming the decision Max made about Claire, and Nix's concern for her as well. I definitely wouldn't complain about a wedding for them though and a little side chapter about their life down the road. Playing with Fire is definitely a must-read and a keeper. I devoured it, and it's one of those books I wish never ended!
Happy Reading!
*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
Links to Buy:
READING ORDER FOR LOVE UNBOUND
Set in the world of New Hope
Love Unbound: Splintered Hearts
Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Splintered Hearts: The New Hope Trilogy
Love Unbound: Here and Now
Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Here and Now: The Complete Series
Love Unbound: Reckless and Real
Or read them together in the omnibus edition, Reckless and Real: The Complete Series
Meet Lexi:
Connect with Lexi:
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